


For The Joy Of It

by vvitchering (Witchering)



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Body Image, Ficlet, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:27:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23100205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Witchering/pseuds/vvitchering
Summary: After spending years on The Path together, Jaskier and Geralt finally settle down. Jaskier notices one day that his new sedentary lifestyle has changed him in ways he fears Geralt won't accept.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 26
Kudos: 635





	For The Joy Of It

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt fill from @lesbianspritzee on Twitter. She asked for "chubby Jaskier" and I ran with it.

It’s been five years since they settled in Oxenfurt. Geralt still travels from time to time, following the itch to continue walking his Path, but now he has a home to return to at the end of a long hunt.  Jaskier misses him when he’s gone but he finds ways to keep busy. He finally accepted the academy’s offer to become an instructor and took to teaching like a drowner to water. 

It was an adjustment, at first.

No more nights spent sleeping in the outdoors, shivering around a tiny campfire. No more dirty inn beds and borderline edible meals. Jaskier has a real fabric and feather bed now, a real roof over his head, and never has to wonder where his next meal will come from.

It shows. He’s lost the rangy thinness of his youth and without the need to traipse across the continent at a witcher’s pace, he’s filled in and out. His face has softened and his waist sports ample curves where once there were only sharp angles.

It happened so gradually Jaskier hadn’t even noticed.  Now, as he worriedly paces the floor of the home he shares with his love, he wonders for the first time if Geralt’s affections can weather the effects of time on a human body.

Geralt doesn’t age like a human. His metabolism remains terrifyingly efficient and his body looks as chiseled and perfect as it did when they first met all those years ago. Now Jaskier is older, soft, and anxious.

He’s always looked forward to Geralt’s homecomings with pleasant anticipation but now he wishes he had more time. But there’s the door opening, and the sound of Geralt’s boots on the floor. Time to face the music.

“Welcome home,” Jaskier offers as Geralt stomps into the room,  “Good hunting?”

“As good as any. I’m glad to be home.” And, gods, Jaskier doesn’t know how he ever went without Geralt’s small crooked smiles.  He hopes he never has to go without them again. But  Geralt’s smile fades quickly into an expression of concern as he takes in Jaskier’s slightly forced looking smile and white knuckles. 

“What’s on your mind? You’re distressed. Did something happen while I was away?” 

“Darling, you know I hate when you sniff out my moods like that.”

Geralt has that look in his eyes that means he isn't going to just let this drop. Under any other circumstance, Jaskier would congratulate himself for all his hard work in getting Geralt comfortable enough with emotions to actually want to discuss them. Now he just wants to hide.

"Jaskier."

"It's nothing, really, just a harmless bout of personal insecurity. Nothing to worry your pretty head about." 

He tries to escape. Geralt grabs his wrist and pulls him back and Jaskier swallows audibly. There's no getting away from a concerned witcher, it seems.

"Have you noticed anything different about me lately?" he asks, risking eye contact to see how Geralt processes the question. He can see the gears turning in Geralt's head, going over every detail, searching for a reason for Jaskier's odd behavior, and coming up with nothing.

"Melitele's tits, Geralt, I've gotten _fat_. There, you've made me say it, are you happy now?!"

Geralt frowns and studies Jaskier as if he were one of the witcher's alchemy projects. The scrutiny burns like a brand as those golden eyes sweep over him.  Between one second and next, he's swept off his feet and into Geralt's arms as if he were a child. The man clutches him close and presses his face to Jaskier's neck, where he inhales deeply. Jaskier shivers even as he feels himself turn red with embarrassment.

"You," Geralt rumbles, "are perfection. You glow with contentment. Every need has been met. Between my coin and yours, you want for nothing. It's...pleasing to me, to see you so well taken care of. You look _loved_ , Jaskier, and you wear it well."

Jaskier has been left speechless very few times in his life and, frustratingly enough, Geralt can claim responsibility for most of them. Jaskier can only gape at the witcher, who gazes back, looking more than a little besotted. 

He really means it, the suave bastard.

Geralt gently sets Jaskier back on his feet and the bard sways a little from the force of the emotions swirling around. Geralt helpfully keeps his mouth shut and a steady hand on his shoulder as Jaskier works through what's been said. 

"So...you don't find me repulsive, then?"

"Must I prove it to you?" Geralt says, lowering his tone, and Jaskier feels immediately weak in the knees. And wanted. And cherished. And all manner of other pleasantly tingly things that sweep away all of the uncertainty and anxiety he's been feeling in a single instant.

Jaskier has changed over the years. He will continue to change, as is the way of things. His hair will grey, his eyesight may fail him, his waistline may grow further. But Geralt loves him, and loves _all_ of him.

Not in spite of his form but for the joy of it. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm always open to prompts! Come talk to me on Twitter and Tumblr @vvitchering


End file.
